tern.rbmi
Reference-based multiple imputation tables, shipping only what CRAN checks demand.
Comparison · Analytics
enpls vs hdnom
A side-by-side editorial comparison of enpls and hdnom — release velocity, themes, recent moves, and the top alternatives to consider.
enpls vs hdnom: at a glance
What is enpls?
enpls has not changed its statistics since 2016 — only its website, twice.
enpls implements ensemble partial least squares regression, with variants for feature selection, outlier detection and model applicability. Across the six most recent releases there is not one change to the modeling code. They cover a documentation website, a website URL change, a font stack, code indentation, a CI service, and most recently a GitHub Actions migration with an R CMD check note fix.
What is hdnom?
hdnom is in pure custodial mode, absorbing glmnet's changes so its users don't have to
hdnom builds nomograms and validation/calibration workflows for high-dimensional Cox survival models on top of glmnet, ncvreg and penalized. The package's own interface has been stable since the 6.0.0 refactor in 2019; every release since has been maintenance. The recent run is entirely about surviving glmnet's evolution — a lambda-selection rule argument, then a cox.ties argument pinning the old tie handling.
enpls vs hdnom: editorial side-by-side
enpls
0.0ANALYTICS
enpls has not changed its statistics since 2016 — only its website, twice.
◆ Current state
enpls implements ensemble partial least squares regression, with variants for feature selection, outlier detection and model applicability. Across the six most recent releases there is not one change to the modeling code. They cover a documentation website, a website URL change, a font stack, code indentation, a CI service, and most recently a GitHub Actions migration with an R CMD check note fix.
◆ Where it's heading
The statistical work finished around version 5.6, which added cross-validation fold control and fixed component selection when the maximum was left unspecified. Everything since has kept the package installable and its docs online. The 2025 release arriving the same day as sibling package grex, with the same two fixes, confirms the pattern: these are maintainer sweeps across a portfolio, not attention to enpls specifically.
◆ Prediction
The next release will almost certainly be another CRAN or tooling fix. Six consecutive infrastructure-only releases across nine years give no basis for expecting new methods.
hdnom
5.0ANALYTICS
hdnom is in pure custodial mode, absorbing glmnet's changes so its users don't have to
◆ Current state
hdnom builds nomograms and validation/calibration workflows for high-dimensional Cox survival models on top of glmnet, ncvreg and penalized. The package's own interface has been stable since the 6.0.0 refactor in 2019; every release since has been maintenance. The recent run is entirely about surviving glmnet's evolution — a lambda-selection rule argument, then a cox.ties argument pinning the old tie handling.
◆ Where it's heading
The releases track two upstream pressures with no feature work of its own. glmnet is the larger one: its 4.1-9 change to how Cox cross-validation errors are normalized made lambda.1se select null models far more often, forcing hdnom to expose a rule argument and switch its examples to lambda.min. R-devel is the other, producing a steady trickle of strict-headers, deprecated-symbol and check-note fixes. The pattern is consistent — absorb the upstream change, default to whatever preserves existing behaviour, let users opt into the new one.
◆ Prediction
The cox.ties default is explicitly pinned to "breslow" to silence glmnet's migration warning, which is a deferral rather than a decision; expect a future release to flip that default to "efron" once glmnet completes the transition.
Alternatives to enpls and hdnom
Other Analytics products tracked by Sparkpulse, ranked by recent ship velocity. Each card links to a full editorial trajectory and lets you pivot into a head-to-head comparison with either enpls or hdnom.
tern.mmrm
An MMRM tabulation package that has published nothing since its 2024 CRAN releases.
ggmagnify
A single-purpose ggplot2 inset tool, refining the same three arguments.
symengine
An R symbolic-maths binding whose changelog is really the C++ core's release notes.
gtfstools
gtfstools stopped guarding its own object model and started accepting everyone else's.
quantities
The glue package that makes R carry units and uncertainty through the same calculation.
Recent activity from enpls and hdnom
Latest ship moves from both products, interleaved chronologically. ⚡ = editorial spark.
- 18d agohdnomhdnom 6.2.1
- 18d agohdnomhdnom 6.2.0 pins Cox tie handling ahead of glmnet's migration
- 1y agoenplsenpls 6.1.1 moves pkgdown to GitHub Actions
- 1y agohdnomhdnom 6.1.0 exposes lambda selection after a glmnet normalization change
- 1y agohdnomhdnom 6.0.4
- 2y agohdnomhdnom 6.0.3
- 3y agohdnomhdnom 6.0.2
- 7y agoenplsenpls 6.1 adopts tidyverse code style
- 8y agoenplsenpls 6.0 changes the documentation URL
- 8y agoenplsenpls 5.9 drops Google Fonts from vignettes
- 9y agoenplsenpls 5.8 updates gallery images, enables HTTPS
- 9y agoenplsenpls 5.7 adds a pkgdown site and Windows CI
Frequently asked questions
What is the difference between enpls and hdnom?
They serve adjacent needs but don't currently overlap on shipped themes. hdnom is currently shipping more aggressively (velocity 5.0 vs 0.0), with 0 editorial sparks in the last 30 days against 0. See the at-a-glance table above for a side-by-side breakdown of velocity, recent sparks, and editorial themes.
Is enpls better than hdnom?
Sparkpulse doesn't pick a winner — we score release velocity, not feature parity. hdnom is currently shipping more aggressively (velocity 5.0 vs 0.0), with 0 editorial sparks in the last 30 days against 0. For your specific use case, the alternatives sections above list other Analytics products to evaluate alongside.
What are the best alternatives to enpls?
Top enpls alternatives in Analytics are ranked by recent ship velocity. Browse the "enpls alternatives" section above for the current picks, or visit /alternatives/enpls for the full list with editorial commentary on each.
What are the best alternatives to hdnom?
Top hdnom alternatives in Analytics are ranked by recent ship velocity. Browse the "hdnom alternatives" section above for the current picks, or visit /alternatives/hdnom for the full list with editorial commentary on each.